Monday, November 12, 2007

Go Eat Pop Corn

For the better part of a year our men’s Sunday school class has done a verse-by-verse study of the book of Genesis. On average we cover about a chapter per week. Our Sunday school teacher is a fire fighter so he has to work every third Sunday. It has been a blessing for me because I get to teach on the Sunday that he works. It has been interesting to see all of the types and pictures of Christ in Genesis. Since we are up to chapter 46, we have been studying the life of Joseph. In his life alone their have been many types of Christ, probably more than a hundred. It is awesome to me to see how the bible all fits together. What some would see a coincidence, Christian’s have been given the blessing to see the revelation of the wonderful tapestry woven into God’s word. We are used to studying the minute details of the construction of that tapestry, but when you stand back and look at it as a whole, you see Christ.

When we complete the study of Genesis, we will begin a new study; we will do a verse-by-verse study of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. We use the acrostic Go Eat Pop Corn as a tool to memorize the order of the books. I am excited to begin the new study, as with all new studies. For the first class we are going to make popcorn. We typically have 8-10 men attend class each Sunday, which to me, is at the upper limit of what a Sunday school class should be. There are some classes that have as many as twenty people, which is too large to have good interaction. Hopefully when we get in our new building we will be able to break up into smaller classes. I do have a question, however. Does anyone know of any grace-based commentaries or study guides for the books we will be studying? They can be in print or on the Internet.

5 comments:

Joel Brueseke said...

Yeah I really like "small" small groups or Bible study groups. 8 to 10 sounds like a good limit. As you say, there is definitely a better chance for better interaction with no more than that.

"Go Eat Pop Corn." Hehehe, I don't think I've ever heard that one. :) A long time ago I made up my own. I just say "GEP-C" (sounds sort of like "gypsy"). That has stuck with me for some reason.

It seems like my friend Mike downloaded a study on Hebrews and a study on Galatians one time, but I can't remember where he downloaded it from. I'll see if I can find out. They were very grace-based.

Judah Gabriel Himango said...

Shalom Gary,

Yes - there are many pictures of Messiah in the Tenakh/Old Testament! Joseph is certainly one of them. So much so, in fact, that many Jews believe there will be 2 Messiahs, one who is likened to Joseph:

-Messiah son of David - the kingly Messiah who rules Israel, judges the nations, brings peace)

-Messiah son of Joseph - the suffering servant who had to suffer like Joseph to bring salvation to the world.

(Of course, Christians believe the 2 Messiahs are actually 1, but in 2 different comings.)

I just blogged about these 2 roles of Messiah, check it out if you get a chance.

Bino M. said...

Go Eat Pop Corn. Thats a good one! I have always struggled to keep the order of those epistles memorized. This helps!

Joel Brueseke said...

Gary,

My friend says that he had downloaded the Bible studies from the Grace Walk website. However, that was 5 or 6 years ago, and I can't find anything of that sort on there right now. But I'll keep my eyes peeled for any good studies that I might come across.

Gary Kirkham said...

Thanks Joel, I appreciate the effort.